EIGHTH VAN CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION
MAY 27–JUNE 11, 1989
ED LANDRETH AUDITORIUM AT TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY • TARRANT COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER THEATRE
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, USA
John Giordano, jury chairman
AWARDS AND PRIZES
Best Performance of Commissioned Work: Benedetto Lupo (gold watch)
Steven de Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, José Carlos Cocarelli, Kevin Kenner, Alexander Shtarkman ($1,000 each)
Highest Ranking Pianist of the United States: Kevin Kenner ($1,000)
Jury Discretionary Awards: Pedro Burmester, Kevin Kenner, Wolfgang Manz, Andrew Wilde ($1,000 each)
WINNERS’ UPDATES
ALEXEI SULTANOV After winning the gold medal at age 19, the Soviet-born pianist performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman. He made recordings for Teldec and Arts Core and appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and La Scala, and with the Pittsburgh, Royal Concertgebouw, Royal Philharmonic, Detroit, Dallas, and Atlanta orchestras. His brilliant career was cut short by a series of strokes, and he passed away in 2005 in Fort Worth.
JOSÉ CARLOS COCARELLI The Brazilian silver medalist retired from the concert stage and became a Buddhist monk in France. He teaches piano at a community music school in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe.
BENEDETTO LUPO Increasingly popular as a guest artist, the bronze medalist has performed with many of the world’s best orchestras and has recorded Schumann’s complete works for piano and orchestra, including the first CD recording of the piano version of Konzertstück, op. 86. Since 2013, he has served as the piano master-course professor at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in his native Italy.
ALEXANDER SHTARKMAN This Russian pianist followed his success as a Cliburn finalist with a first-prize win at the Busoni Competition in 1995. In addition to his active concert schedule in Asia, Europe, Russia, and North and South Americas, Mr. Shtarkman has taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music since 2002.
TIAN YING The Chinese finalist is associate professor at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
ELISSO BOLKVADZE A star in her native Georgia, Ms. Bolkavadze released an album of Prokofiev and Schubert in 2015. A human rights activist, she gave a charity concert in collaboration with the Embassy of Georgia in Geneva, and appeared with the United Nations Orchestra to support Georgian children affected by war. In 2013, she founded the Batumi International Music Festival on the shores of the Black Sea, and she was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2015.
JURY
John Giordano, chairman (United States)
Sergei Dorensky (USSR)
Jan Ekier (Poland)
Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer (France)
John Lill (United Kingdom)
Li Ming Qiang (China)
Cristina Ortiz (Brazil)
John F. Pfeiffer (United States)
Lawrence Leighton Smith (United States)
György Sándor (United States)
Abbey Simon (United States)
Maxim Shostakovich (United States)
Takahiro Sonoda (Japan)
Joaquin Soriano (Spain)
Ralph Votapek (United States)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Conductor: Stanisław Skrowaczewski
Chamber Music: Tokyo String Quartet
Orchestras: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra
Commissioned Work: William Schuman, Chester: Variations for Piano
Master of ceremonies: Dudley Moore
Official Artwork: Robert Rauschenberg
Documentary: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music, directed by Peter Rosen